BASIC COGNITIVE
PROCESSES
Sensation, Perception &
Recognition
OCan two different
people experience
different perceptions
in response to
exactly the same
stimuli
Points to ponder
OHow do we manage to accomplish
detecting and interpreting a great
deal of sensory information so rapidly
and (usually) without error?
OHow much of the information we
acquire through perception draws on
past learning?
OWhere can the line be drawn
between sensation and perception?
Sensation, Perception,
Recognition
O Link between physiological and
psychological processes
Islamic perspectives
OAl-Baqarah: 285
O.. And they say: we hear, and
we obey..
OAl-Mukminun: 78
OIt is He who has created for you
(the faculties of) hearing, sight,
feeling and understanding:
little thanks it is ye give
Islamic perspectives
OAl Nahl: 78
OIt is He who brought you forth from the
wombs of your mothers when you knew
nothing; and He made for you hearings,
visions and the hearts/intelligence
(afidah). So that you may give thanks.
OAl Mulk: 23
OSay, it is He who has created/developed
(anshaa) you, and made for you hearings,
vision, and understanding (afdiah). But
little did you give thanks.
Islamic perspectives
OOur five senses and the concept of
reward and sin.
ODo appreciate the mechanisms
Allah created in selecting, organising,
and interpreting sensory information
ODo keep on conducting research on
sensation and perception so that we
can help others to sense and
perceive halal things only
SENSATION
PERCEPTION
RECOGNITION
Initial detection
of energy from the
physical world
Interpretation
of sensory
information
meaningfully
Identification/
classification of
objects in the
environment.
how we make
sense of our
senses
Recognition of a
particular object,
event etc as
belonging to a
class of objects,
events etc
the activation of
sensory receptors
(specialized forms
of neurons)in the
various sense
organs
Sensation
Initial detection of energy
from the physical world
Othe activation of receptors in
the various sense organs.
OEyes
OEars
ONose
OSkin
OTongue
Menu
Perceptual Theories
OConstructive perception
OTop-down what we sense + what
we know
ODirect perception
OBottom-up direct acquisition of
information from environment
Constructive perception
OTop-Down processing
OProcessing that begins with a
persons prior knowledge or
experiences or expectations
O Perceivers expectations, existing
knowledge, experience, theories
or concepts guide the selection
and combination of information
Direct perception
OBottom-Up processing
- processing that begins with
stimulation of the receptors.
- receptors are activated by
stimuli in the environment
- Perceiver starts with small bits
of
information from the
environment
(incoming data) that
he combines in various ways to
form perception.
Perceptual Theories
OGestalt Theory
OCanonic perspectives
OTemplate matching
OPrototype matching
OFeature analysis
ORecognition by component
Gestalt Theory
We are innately driven to experience
things in as good a gestalt as possible.
Good can mean many things here, such
regularity, orderliness, simplicity,
symmetry, and so on, which then refer to
specific gestalt laws.
Perception of whole pattern of stimuli
we see and recognise objects/units as a
whole, and not by identifying individual
features or parts.
THE Gestalt LAWS OF
ORGANIZATION
OGestalt law of perceptual
organisation
O the way elements are grouped
together.
O the mind groups patterns
according to rules/ organizing
principles
Alizi Alias, Dept. of Psychology
20
10/20/15
Canonic Perspectives
Views that best represent an object
Formed through experience
Permanent memories of the most
representational view
Template Matching
Theory
Recognition occurs when a
match is made between
sensory stimuli and an internal
mental form/template
Matching requires same position,
orientation, size of sensory
stimuli
Template Matching
Theory
OUseful conceptual and practical applications
OBut:
O Too long to do
O Great variability of patterns - Zillions of
templates to be stored
O Cant account for unfamiliar objects
OMatching requires same position, orientation, size
of sensory stimuli
ODoes not reveal how two patterns differ
ODoes not allow for alternative descriptions of a
pattern
Prototype Matching
Theory
OPerception occurs when a match is
made between a perceived pattern
and a stored representation of
information.
OPrototype an idealised
representation of information
OSearching for resemblance instead
of perfect matches
Prototype Matching
When a sensory device
registers a new stimulus, the
device compares it with
previously stored prototypes.
An exact match is not
required, only an approximate
match is expected
Feature Analysis Theory
O Incoming stimuli are analyzed
according to their simple features
O Neurological evidence
O Nerve cells sensitive to orientation of
lines (Hubel & Wiesel, 1959, 1965)
Feature analysis
in form
perception
A possible set of features for
capital letters
Recognition By
Components Theory
(RBC) Irving Biederman
(1987)
OWhen people perceive objects,
they segment them into simple
geometric components (geons).
E.g. cylinder, pyramids,
rectangular solids etc
OWhat geons are present & the
arrangement of geons
Geons and some of the
objects they make
p. l19).
Neuropsychological problem relevant
to cognitive processes of perception
& recognition
OAgnosia is a perceptual disorder in
which sensation is preserved but the
ability to recognise a stimulus or know
its meaning is lost.
OAgnosia means without knowledge.
OPatients with agnosia cannot
understand or recognise what they
see, hear or feel
Agnosia
ODue to lesions that disconnect and
isolate visual, auditory and somatosensory
input from higher level processing.
OWhen assessing agnosia, it is important
to establish that sensation is preserved,
the patient is alert, intelligence is intact
(or near intact) with no language or
memory disorder
Visual agnosia
Oimpairment in the ability
to interpret (although
seeing) visual information
O2 types; apperceptive
agnosia & associative
agnosia
Associative agnosia
OCan match objects/drawings
but they tend to do so very
slowly and very carefully
OCan be easily distracted by
small details e.g. extra dots
OBilateral damage
Apperceptive agnosia
OCan see features,
contours/outlines of a drawing
or object but have a difficult
time to match one object to
another or categorizing objects
OInjury to the right hemisphere
Prosopagnosia
OA disorder of face recognition
Patients can identify facial parts,
recognise a face as a face but
with no recognition of the person.
OAffected people can use cues
such as hairstyle, glasses and
clothing and will recognise the
person as soon as they speak.
Previous final exam
question
Sensation, perception and recognition
are said to represent mental processes
that
link both physiological process and
psychological processes. Elaborate.
OPhysiological process of seeing: light
stimulate the receptors in eyes
transduction resulted in
neural/electrical signals travelled
from eyes to brain
OPsychological process of seeing:
context/knowledge/experience etc.
shape/ guide